Method and system for remote diagnostic, control and information collection based on various communication modes for sending messages to a resource manager

ABSTRACT

A method, system, and program product for communicating with machines connected to a network. Information sent to or from the machines is transmitted using electronic mail or a via a direct connection. The electronic mail may be transmitted over the Internet to a service center or from a service center to a resource administrator, but also may remain within a local or wide area network for transmission between a machine and a resource administrator. E-mail messages may be transmitted from a computer which is attached to a device which is being monitored or controlled and include information regarding the status, usage or capabilities of the attached device. The device may send status messages and usage information of the device to either a resource administrator or to a service center on the Internet through a firewall. The message may be sent directly to the resource administrator station if urgent service is needed by the device. For routine information, the service center may manage all the resources on an intranet and may send predetermined types of information to the resource administrator using e-mail.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priorityfrom U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/935,161, filed Nov. 5, 2007,the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/935,161 is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/660,527, filed Sep. 12, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No.7,293,081, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/408,443, filed Sep. 29, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,247.

The present application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/311,148 filed May 13, 1999, entitled “Application Unit Monitoring andReporting System and Method,” U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/192,583 filed Nov. 17, 1998 entitled “Method and System forCommunicating with a Device Attached to a Computer Using Electronic MailMessages,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/883,492 filed Jun. 26,1997 entitled “Method and System for Diagnosis and Control of MachinesUsing Connectionless Modes Having Delivery Monitoring and an AlternateCommunication Mode,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/820,633 filedMar. 19, 1997 entitled “Method and System to Diagnose a Business OfficeDevice Based on Operating Parameters Set by a User,” now U.S. Pat. No.5,887,216, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/733,134 filed Oct. 16,1996 entitled “Method and System for Diagnosis and Control of MachinesUsing Connectionless Modes of Communication,” now U.S. Pat. No.5,909,493, U.S. patent application. No. 08/880,683, filed Jun. 23, 1997,U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/107,989 and 09/108,705, both ofwhich were filed Jul. 1, 1998, all three of which are entitled “Methodand System for Controlling and Communicating with Machines UsingMultiple Communication Formats,” and all three of which are divisions ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/624,228 filed Mar. 29, 1996, nowU.S. Pat. No. 5,818,603, entitled “Method and System for Controlling andCommunicating with Machines Using Multiple Communication Formats,” U.S.patent application Ser. Nos. 08/738,659 and 08/738,461, both of whichare entitled “Method and System for Diagnosis and Control of MachinesUsing Connection and Connectionless Modes of Communication,” filed Oct.30, 1996, and are divisions of, and U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/916,009, entitled “Method and System for Diagnosis and Control ofMachines Using Connection and Connectionless Modes of Communication,”filed Aug. 21, 1997, which is a continuation of, U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 08/463,002 filed Jun. 5, 1995, entitled “Method and System forDiagnosis and Control of Machines Using Connection and ConnectionlessModes of Communication,” now U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,110, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/852,413 filed May 7, 1987, entitled “Method andSystem for Controlling and Communicating with Business Office Devices,”now U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,678, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/698,068 filed Aug. 15, 1996, entitled “Methodand Apparatus for Controlling and Communicating With Business OfficeDevices,” now U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,120 which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 08/562,192 filed Nov. 22, 1995, now U.S.Pat. No. 5,568,618, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 08/473,780 filed Jun. 6, 1995, entitled “Method and Apparatusfor Controlling and Communicating With Business Office Devices,” nowU.S. Pat. No. 5,544,289, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/426,679 filed Apr. 24, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No.5,537,554, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Controlling andCommunicating With Business Office Devices” which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/282,168 filed Jul. 28, 1994 andentitled “Method and Apparatus for Controlling and Communicating WithBusiness Office Devices,” now U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,779, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/902,462 filed Jun.19, 1992, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 07/549,278, filed Jul. 6, 1990, now abandoned, thedisclosure of each is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to the use of network messages forcommunicating information to a service center and resource managerregarding the usage of a network resource. The invention is moreparticularly related to the processing performed within a computer inorder to process and forward the appropriate information from thenetwork resource to the service center and resource manager. Theinvention is further related to a method and system for sending anelectronic mail message to the service center and resource managerregarding the network usage of the network resource. Still further, theinvention is related to the transmission of a warning message to aresource manager, for example, when urgent service is needed by anetwork printer. Still further, the invention is related to thetransmission of status messages from network printers to a servicecenter, for example, regarding network usage of the network printers sothat summary information may be generated and sent to the resourcemanager regularly.

2. Discussion of the Background

Electronic mail (“e-mail”) has become very popular for communicatinginformation between people and provides the benefits of beinginexpensive and convenient to a user. Extensive information andprotocols are available explaining how e-mail including Internet e-mailoperates and there are many commercially available programs forimplementing e-mail functions.

Internet facsimile is also available. See, for example, Toyoda, K, Ohno,H., Murai, J., Wing, D., “A Simple Mode of Facsimile Using InternetMail,” March, 1998, The Internet Society, Request For Comments (“RFC”)2305, produced by the Internet Engineering Task Force (“IETF”) FaxWorking Group, the entire contents of which are incorporated byreference herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a method,system, and program product for implementing communication usingelectronic network messages or e-mail.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method, system, andprogram product in which a message is received from, processed by, andtransmitted to a resource manager which receives the electronic networkmessage or e-mail.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a method, system,and program product which transmits information originating from anetwork resource through a service center to a resource manager.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a method, system,and program product which transmits information originating from adevice through a service center to a resource manager.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a method, system, andprogram product which transmits urgent information originating from adevice to a resource manager.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a method, system,and program product which transmits urgent information regarding aproblem with a device, via a message originating from the device, to aresource manager to raise awareness of the problem so that the resourcemanager may initiate corrective action to resolve the problem.

These and other objects are accomplished by a method, system, andprogram product in which an electronic network message regarding thestatus of a network resource is received by a service center or resourcemanager. When it is determined that urgent service is needed by anetwork resource, the network resource may send a status messagedirectly to the resource manager. For routine status information, thenetwork resource may send an electronic network message containinginformation regarding status information of the network resource to theservice center for transmission of agreed information. The networkresource may be any type of device including a business office devicesuch as a printer, a copier, a scanner, or a facsimile machine, adigital camera, or any other electronic device which is desired to beremotely monitored and/or controlled including equipment for remotelymonitoring and controlling utility meters and household appliances. Theagreed information may be any type of information relating to the usageof the network resource, including, for example, information relating topaper jams, paper usage, toner usage, energy usage, functionality ofdevice components, and usage frequency.

The invention also relates to the transmission of an outgoing e-mailmessage from a computer containing information from an attached device.Information from the device may be transmitted to a device driver of thecomputer and subsequently to a Messaging Application ProgrammingInterface (“MAPI”) of the computer. If desired, the transmission of theelectronic mail message from the device may establish a TCP(“Transmission Control Protocol”) connection between the computer andthe device which functions as a message transfer agent. As a furtheralternative, one or more files may be created within the computer andthese files may be written to a mail spool directory of the computer.When the computer detects the existence of the file(s) in the mail spooldirectory, an e-mail message is transmitted from the computer.

As a further alternative, the network resource may establish directconnections with destinations such as the service center and theresource manager for direct transmission of monitor and controlinformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendantadvantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates three networked business office machines connected toa network of computers and data bases through the Internet;

FIG. 2 illustrates the components of a digital copier/printer;

FIG. 3 illustrates the electronic components of the digitalcopier/printer illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates details of the multi-port communication interfaceillustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative system configuration in which businessoffice devices are connected to a computer which is connected to anetwork, and also devices which are connected directly to the network;

FIG. 6A illustrates in block diagram format a manner in whichinformation may be communicated to or from a device using electronicmail;

FIG. 6B illustrates an alternative way of communicating using electronicmail in which the computer which is connected to the device also servesas a message transfer agent;

FIG. 6C illustrates an alternative way of communicating using electronicmail in which the device includes a message transfer agent;

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative manner of sending messages across theInternet;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary computer which may be connected to thedevice and used to communicate electronic mail messages;

FIG. 9 illustrates in block diagram format modules, objects, andinformation which are contained within a computer;

FIG. 10 illustrates information of a device driver which may be usedwith this invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a network with resource administration stations anda service center;

FIG. 12 illustrates an intranet with a resource administrator, end userstations, and devices connected to the intranet;

FIG. 13 is a data flow diagram of communications to and from the device;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the process of the data flow diagramof FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the processing performed whencommunication is initiated by the device;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the processing performed when anon-urgent message is sent from the device;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the processing performed when anurgent message is sent from the device;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating the processing performed when amessage is sent from the service center;

FIG. 19A illustrates an exemplary e-mail message and FIG. 19Billustrates an executable file which may be attached to the e-mailmessage of FIG. 19A;

FIG. 20 illustrates a screen display of an e-mail message;

FIG. 21 illustrates a method of receiving an e-mail message;

FIG. 22 illustrates a second method of receiving an e-mail message;

FIG. 23 illustrates a method of transmitting an e-mail message;

FIG. 24 illustrates another method of transmitting an e-mail message;

FIG. 25 illustrates a data structure containing device information;

FIG. 26 illustrates a log of trouble information which has occurred invarious devices;

FIG. 27 illustrates query results of information relating to a specificprinter; and

FIG. 28 illustrates an intranet with a resource administrator generatinga usage report.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate identicalor corresponding parts throughout the several views, and moreparticularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is illustrated a figure showingvarious machines and computers for monitoring, diagnosing andcontrolling the operation of the machines. In FIG. 1, there is a firstnetwork 16, such as a Local Area Network (“LAN”) connected to computerworkstations 17, 18, 20 and 22. The workstations can be any type ofcomputers including IBM Personal Computer compatible devices, Unix basedcomputers, or Apple Macintoshes. Also connected to the network 16 are adigital copier/printer 24, a facsimile machine 28, and a printer 32. Thedevices 24, 28 and 32 are referred to as machines or monitored devicesand other types of devices may be used as the machines or monitoreddevices, including any of the devices discussed below. Also, a facsimileserver (not illustrated) may be connected to the network 16 and have atelephone, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), wireless, orcable connection. In addition to the digital copier/printer 24,facsimile machine 28, and printer 32 being connected to the network 16,these devices may also include conventional telephone and/or ISDN and/orcable connections 26, 30 and 34, respectively. As is explained below,the business office machines or business devices 24, 28 and 32communicate with a remote monitoring, diagnosis and control station,also referred to as a monitoring device, through the Internet via thenetwork 16 or by a direct telephone, ISDN, wireless, or cableconnection.

In FIG. 1, the Internet is generally designated by 10. The Internet 10includes a plurality of interconnected computers and routers designatedby 12A-12I. The manner of communicating over the Internet is knownthrough Request For Comments (“RFC”) documents obtained by file transferprotocol (“FTP”) at NIC.DDN.MIL or at FTP NISC.SRI.COM. TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) related communicationis described for example in the book “TCP/IP Illustrated,” Vol. 1, TheProtocols, by Stevens, from Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1994,which is incorporated herein by reference.

In FIG. 1, a firewall 14 is connected between the Internet 10 and thenetwork 16. A firewall is a device that allows only authorized computersto access a network or other computer via the Internet. Firewalls areknown and commercially available devices and/or software, for example,include SunScreen from Sun Microsystems Inc. Similarly, a firewall 50 isconnected between the Internet 10 and a network 52. Also, a firewall 40is connected between the Internet 10 and a workstation 42.

The network 52 is a conventional network and includes a plurality ofworkstations 56, 62, 68 and 74. These workstations may be differentdepartments within a company such as marketing, manufacturing, designengineering and customer service departments. In addition to theworkstations connected via the network 52, there is a workstation 42which is not directly connected to the network 52. Information in a database stored in a disk 46 may be shared using proper encryption andprotocols over the Internet to the workstations connected directly tothe network 52. Also, the workstation 42 includes a direct connection toa telephone line and/or ISDN and/or cable 44 and the data base in disk46 may be accessed through the telephone line, ISDN, or cable. The cableused by this invention may be implemented using a cable which typicallyis used to carry television programming, cable which provides for highspeed communication of digital data typically used with computers or thelike, or may be implemented using any desired type of cable.

Information of the business office machines 24, 28 and 32 may be storedin one or more of the data bases stored in the disks 46, 54, 58, 64, 70and 76. Each of the customer service, marketing, manufacturing, andengineering departments may have their own data base or may share fromone or more data bases. Each of the disks used to store data bases is anon-volatile memory such as a hard disk or optical disk. Alternatively,the data bases may be stored in any storage device including solid stateand/or semiconductor memory devices. As an example, disk 64 contains themarketing data base, disk 58 contains the manufacturing data base, disk70 contains the engineering data base and disk 76 contains the customerservice data base. Alternatively, the disks 54 and 46 store one or moreof the data bases.

In addition to the workstations 56, 62, 68, 74 and 42 being connected tothe Internet, these workstations may also include a connection to atelephone line, ISDN, or cable which provides a secure connection to themachine being monitored, diagnosed and/or controlled and is used duringa connection-mode of communication. Additionally, if one of theInternet, telephone, ISDN, or cable is not operating properly, one ofthe others can be automatically used for communication.

A feature of the present invention is the use of a connectionless-modeof communication (e.g., Internet e-mail) or transmission between amachine and a computer for monitoring, diagnosing and controlling themachine. Alternatively, the e-mail which is transmitted may beimplemented using a connection mode of communication. The IBM Dictionaryof Computing by George McDaniel, 1994, defines a connectionless-modetransmission to be the transmission of a single unit of data from asource service access point to one or more destination service accesspoints without establishing a connection. The IBM Dictionary alsodefines a connection-mode transmission to be the transmission of unitsof data from a source service access point to one or more destinationservice access points via a connection. The connection is establishedprior to data transfer and released following data transfer. Additionalinformation about the connection-mode and the connectionless-mode ofoperation is described in the Handbook of Computer-CommunicationsStandards, Vol. 1, 2nd Edition, by William Stallings, 1990, which isincorporated herein by reference. In order to transfer data from one DTE(Data Terminal Equipment) to another DTE, there is a unique identifieror address for each DTE. This unique identifier or address is usable inboth connection-modes and connectionless-modes of communication.

FIG. 2 illustrates the mechanical layout of the digital copier/printer24 illustrated in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, 101 is a fan for the scanner, 102is a polygonal mirror used with a laser printer, and 103 designates anFθ lens used to collimate light from a laser (not illustrated).Reference numeral 104 designates a sensor for detecting light from thescanner, 105 is a lens for focusing light from the scanner onto thesensor 104, and 106 is a quenching lamp used to erase images on thephotoconductive drum 132. There is a charging corona unit 107 and adeveloping roller 108. Reference numeral 109 designates a lamp used toillustrate a document to be scanned and 110, 111 and 112 designatemirrors used to reflect light onto the sensor 104. There is a drummirror 113 used to reflect light to the photoconductive drum 132originating from the polygon mirror 102. Reference numeral 114designates a fan used to cool the charging area of the digitalcopier/printer, and 115 is a first paper feed roller used for feedingpaper from the first paper cassette 117, and 116 is a manual feed table.Similarly, 118 is a second paper feed roller for the second cassette119. Reference numeral 120 designates a relay roller, 121 is aregistration roller, 122 is an image density sensor and 123 is atransfer/separation corona unit. Reference numeral 124 is a cleaningunit, 125 is a vacuum fan, 126 illustrates a transport belt, 127 is apressure roller, and 128 is an exit roller. Reference numeral 129 is ahot roller used to fix toner onto the paper, 130 is an exhaust fan and131 is the main motor used to drive the digital copier.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of the electronic componentsillustrated in FIG. 2. The CPU 160 is a microprocessor and acts as thesystem controller. There is a random access memory 162 to storedynamically changing information including operating parameters of thedigital copier. A read only memory 164 stores the program code used torun the digital copier and also information describing the copier(static-state data) such as the model number, serial number of thecopier, and default parameters.

There is a multi-port communication interface 166 which allows thedigital copier to communicate with external devices. Reference numeral168 represents a telephone, ISDN, or cable line and 170 represents anetwork. Further information of the multi-port communication interfaceis described with respect to FIG. 4. An interface controller 172 is usedto connect an operation panel 174 to a system bus 186. The operationpanel 174 includes standard input and output devices found on a digitalcopier including a copy button, keys to control the operation of thecopier such as number of copies, reducement/enlargement,darkness/lightness, etc. Additionally, a liquid crystal display may beincluded within the operation panel 174 to display parameters andmessages of the digital copier to a user.

A storage interface 176 connects storage devices to the system bus 186.The storage devices include a flash memory 178 which can be substitutedby a conventional EEPROM and a disk 182. The disk 182 includes a harddisk, optical disk, and/or a floppy disk drive. There is a connection180 connected to the storage interface 176 which allows for additionalmemory devices to be connected to the digital copier. The flash memory178 is used to store semi-static state data which describes parametersof the digital copier which infrequently change over the life of thecopier. Such parameters include the options and configuration of thedigital copier. An option interface 184 allows additional hardware suchas an external interface to be connected to the digital copier. Aclock/timer 187 is utilized to keep track of both the time and date andalso to measure elapsed time.

On the left side of FIG. 3, the various sections making up the digitalcopier are illustrated. Reference numeral 202 designates a sorter andcontains sensors and actuators used to sort the output of the digitalcopier. There is a duplexer 200 which allows a duplex operation to beperformed by the digital copier and includes conventional sensors andactuators. The digital copier includes a large capacity tray unit 198which allows paper trays holding a large number of sheets to be usedwith the digital copier. The large capacity tray unit 198 includesconventional sensors and actuators.

A paper feed controller 196 is used to control the operation of feedingpaper into and through the digital copier. A scanner 194 is used to scanimages into the digital copier and includes conventional scanningelements such as a light, mirror, etc. Additionally, scanner sensors areused such as a home position sensor to determine that the scanner is inthe home position and a lamp thermistor to ensure proper operation ofthe scanning lamp. There is a printer/imager 192 which prints the outputof the digital copier and includes a conventional laser printingmechanism, a toner sensor, and an image density sensor. A fuser 190 isused to fuse the toner onto the page using a high temperature roller andincludes an exit sensor, a thermistor to assure that the fuser 190 isnot overheating, and an oil sensor. Additionally, there is an optionalunit interface 188 used to connect to optional elements of the digitalcopier such as an automatic document feeder, a different type ofsorter/collator, or other elements which can be added to the digitalcopier.

FIG. 4 illustrates details of the multi-port communication interface166. The digital copier may communicate to external devices through aCentronics interface 220 which receives or transmits information to beprinted, a cable modem unit 221 which has a high speed connection overcable, a SCSI interface 222, a conventional telephone interface 224which connects to a telephone line 168A, an ISDN interface 226 whichconnects to an ISDN line 168B, an RS-232 interface 228, and a LANinterface 230 which connects to a LAN 170. A single device whichconnects to both a Local Area Network and a telephone line iscommercially available from Megahertz and is known as theEthernet-Modem.

The CPU or other microprocessor or circuitry executes a monitoringprocess to monitor the state of each of the sensors of the digitalcopier, and a sequencing process is used to execute the instructions ofthe code used to control and operate the digital copier. Additionally,there is a central system control process executed to control theoverall operation of the digital copier and a communication process usedto assure reliable communication to external devices connected to thedigital copier. The system control process monitors and controls datastorage in a static state memory such as the ROM 164 of FIG. 3, asemi-static memory such as the flash memory 178 or disk 182, or thedynamic state data which is stored in a volatile or non-volatile memorysuch as the RAM 162 or the flash memory 178 or disk 182. Additionally,the static state data may be stored in a device other than the ROM 164such as a non-volatile memory including either of the flash memory 178or disk 182.

The above details have been described with respect to a digital copierbut the present invention is equally applicable to other business officemachines or devices such as an analog copier, a facsimile machine, ascanner, a printer, a facsimile server, or other business officemachines, or an appliance with which a user interfaces such as amicrowave oven, VCR, digital camera, cellular phone, palm top computer,etc. Additionally, the present invention includes other types ofmachines which operate using a connection-mode or connectionless-mode ofcommunication, and also e-mail, such as a metering system including agas, water, or electricity metering system, vending machines, or anyother device which performs mechanical operations, such as automobiles,and has a need to be monitored, and performs a function. In addition tomonitoring special purpose machines, and computers, the invention can beused to monitor, control, and diagnose a general purpose computer whichwould be the monitored and/or controlled device.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative system diagram of the invention inwhich different devices and sub-systems are connected to the Internet10. However, there is no requirement to have each of these devices orsub-systems as part of the invention but any individual component orsubsystem illustrated in FIG. 5 is also part of the invention. Further,the elements illustrated in FIG. 1 may be connected to the Internet 10which is illustrated in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, there is illustrated a firewall 250 connected to an intranet 252. One of the computers or devicesconnected to the intranet 252 is a service machine 254 which includestherein or has connected thereto data 256 which may be stored in a database format. The data 256 includes history, performance, malfunction,and any other information including statistical information of theoperation or failure or set-up and components or optional equipment ofdevices which are being monitored. The service machine 254 may beimplemented as the device or computer which requests the monitoreddevices to transmit data or which requests that remote control and/ordiagnosis tests be performed on the monitored devices. The servicemachine 254 may be implemented as any type of device and is preferablyimplemented using a computerized device such as a general purposecomputer.

Another sub-system of FIG. 5 includes a fire wall 258, an intranet 260,and a printer 262 connected thereto. In this sub-system, there is not aseparate general purpose computer connected between the intranet 260 (ora different type of computer network) but the functions of sending andreceiving electronic mail messages by the printer 262 (and similarly bya copier 286) are performed by circuitry, a microprocessor, or any othertype of hardware contained within or mounted to the printer 262.

An alternate type of sub-system includes the use of an Internet serviceprovider 264 which may be any type of Internet service providerincluding known commercial companies such as America Online, Netcom,CompuServe, Niftyserve, the Internet service provider Erols, or anyother Internet service provider. In this sub-system, a computer 266 isconnected to the Internet service provider 264, through a modem, forexample, such as a telephone line modem, a cable modem, modems which useany type of wires such as modems used over an ISDN (Integrated ServicesDigital Network) line, ASDL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), modemswhich use frame relay communication, any digital or analog modem,wireless modems such as a radio frequency modem, a fiber optic modem, ora device which uses infrared lightwaves. Further, a business officedevice 268 is connected to the computer 266. As an alternative to thebusiness office device 268 (and any other device illustrated in FIG. 5),a different type of machine may be monitored or controlled such as adigital copier, any type of appliance, security system, or utility metersuch as an electrical, water, or gas utility meter, or any other devicediscussed herein.

Also illustrated in FIG. 5 is a fire wall 270 connected to a network274. The network 274 may be implemented as any type of computer network,such an Ethernet network, for example. Networking software which may beused to control the network includes any desired networking softwareincluding software commercially available from Novell or Microsoft. Thenetwork 274 may be implemented as an Intranet, if desired. A computer272 connected to the network 274 may be used to obtain information froma business office device 278 and generate reports such as reportsshowing problems which occurred in various machines connected to thenetwork and a monthly usage report of the devices connected to thenetwork 274. In this embodiment, a computer 276 is connected between thebusiness office device 278 and the network 274. This computer receivese-mail communications from the network and forwards the appropriatecommands or data, or any other information, to the business officedevice 278. While it has been stated that the business office device 278is connected to the computer 276, there is no requirement for a wiredconnection between the business office device and the computer andcommunication between the business office device 278 and the computer276 may be accomplished using wires or wireless methods includingthrough the use of radio frequency connections and light connectionswhich may be through an infrared connection, or through fiber optics.Similarly, each of the various networks and intranets illustrated inFIG. 5 may be established using any desired manner including through theestablishment of wireless networks such as radio frequency networks. Thewireless communication described herein may be established using spreadspectrum techniques including techniques which use a spreading code andfrequency hopping techniques such as the frequency hopping wirelessnetwork which is disclosed in the Bluetooth Specification which isdescribed at the world wide web site www.bluetooth.com, which isincorporated herein by reference.

Another sub-system illustrated in FIG. 5 includes a fire wall 280, anintranet 284, a computer 282 connected thereto, and a copier 286. Thecomputer 282 may be used to generate reports and request diagnostic orcontrol procedures. These diagnostic and control procedures may beperformed with respect to the copier 286 or any of the other devicesillustrated in or used with FIG. 5. While FIG. 5 illustrates a pluralityof fire walls, the fire walls are preferable but optional equipment andtherefore the invention may be operated without the use of fire walls,if desired.

FIG. 6A illustrates a device 300 connected to a typical e-mail exchangesystem which includes components 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 314, 316,and 318 which may be implemented in a conventional manner and are takenfrom FIG. 28.1 of Stevens, above. The device 300 may be any of thedevices described herein and the user at a terminal 302 may correspondto any of the illustrated computers, such as the computer 276illustrated in FIG. 5. While FIG. 6A illustrates the user at a terminal302 as being a sender, the sending and receiving functions may bereversed in FIG. 6A. Further, if desired, there may not be a need forhaving a user at the terminal. Connected to the user at a terminal 302is the user agent 304. Popular user agents for Unix include MH, BerkeleyMail, Elm, and Mush. The user agent creates e-mail messages to be sentand if desired, places these messages to be sent in a queue 306. Themail to be sent is forwarded to a Message Transfer Agent (MTA) 308. Acommon MTA for Unix systems is Sendmail. Typically, the message transferagents 308 and 312 exchange communications using a TCP (TransferCommunication Protocol) connection or a TCP/IP (Internet Protocol)connection or protocol. It is to be noted that the communication betweenthe message transfer agents 308 and 312 may occur over the Internet, butalternatively may occur over any type of connection including anynetwork connection such as a local area network, wide area networkand/or an intranet. Further, any desired connection between the messagetransfer agents 308 and 312 may be utilized.

From the message transfer agents 312, e-mail messages are stored in usermailboxes 314 which are transferred to the user agent 316 and ultimatelytransmitted to the user at a terminal 318 which functions as a receivingterminal.

The TCP provides a connection-mode of transmission. However, a directconnection is usually not established between the sending terminal 302and receiving terminal 318. Thus, the transmission of an electronic mailmessage may be considered a connectionless-mode of communication when itis being referred to as between two users or terminals, but whenconsidering the transfer between MTAs, the communication is usually aconnection-mode of communication.

As the Internet is a network accessible by many people andorganizations, it is not considered to be secure. Therefore, messagestransmitted over the Internet should be encrypted to keep the messagesconfidential. Encryption mechanisms are known and commercially availablewhich may be used with the present invention. For example, a C libraryfunction, crypt( ), is available from Sun Microcomputers for use withthe Unix operating system, and other encryption and decryption routinesare known and commercially available and may also be used with thisinvention.

As an alternative to the general structure of FIG. 6A, a single computermay be used which functions as the user terminal, and also the messagetransfer agent. As illustrated in FIG. 6B, the device 300 is connectedto a computer 301 which includes the message transfer agent 308. Ifdesired, the other components on the sending side of FIG. 6A may beincluded in the computer 301 of FIG. 6B including the user agent 304 andthe queue of mail to be sent 306.

A further alternative structure is shown in FIG. 6C in which the messagetransfer agent 308 is formed as part of the device 300. Further, themessage transfer agent 308 is connected to the message transfer agent312 by the TCP connection 310. This embodiment of FIG. 6C illustrates acase in which the device 300 is directly connected to the TCP connection310 and has an e-mail capability. A common instance of this embodimentof FIG. 6C may be the device 300 is a facsimile machine with an e-mailcapability of RFC 2305 (a simple mode of facsimile using Internet mail).

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative implementation of transferring mailand is based on FIG. 28.3 of Stevens. FIG. 7 illustrates an electronicmail system having a relay system at each end. The arrangement of FIG. 7allows one system at an organization to act as a mail hub. In FIG. 7,there are four MTAs connected between the two user agents 304 and 318.These MTAs include local MTA 322, relay MTA 328, relay MTA 332, andlocal MTA 340. The most common protocol used for mail messages is SMTP(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) which may be used with this invention,although any desired mail protocol may be utilized. In FIG. 7, 320designates a sending host which includes the user at a terminal 302, theuser agent 304, and the local MTA 322. The device 300 is connected to,or alternatively included within, the sending host 320. As another case,the device 300 and host 320 can be in one machine where the hostcapability is built into the device 300. Other local MTAs include localMTA 324 and 326. Mail to be transmitted and received may be queued in aqueue of mail 330 of the relay MTA 328. The messages are transferredacross the TCP connection 310, which may be, for example, the Internet,or may be any other type of network or connection.

The transmitted messages are received by the relay MTA 332 and ifdesired, stored in a queue of mail 334. The mail is then forwarded tothe local MTA 340 of a receiving host 342. The mail may be placed in oneor more of the user mailboxes 314 and subsequently forwarded to the useragent 316 and finally forwarded to the user at a terminal 318. Ifdesired, the user may not be required to be at the terminal and the mailmay be directly forwarded to the terminal without user interaction.Other local MTAs at the receiving side include MTA 338 and local MTA 336which may have their own mailboxes, user agents, and terminals.

The various computers utilized by the present invention including thecomputers 266 and 276 of FIG. 5 may be implemented as illustrated inFIG. 8. Further, any other computer utilized by this invention may beimplemented in a similar manner to the computer illustrated in FIG. 8,if desired, including the service machine 254, computer 272, andcomputer 282 of FIG. 5. However, not every element illustrated in FIG. 8is required in each of these computers. In FIG. 8, the computer 360includes a CPU 362 which may be implemented as any type of processorincluding commercially available microprocessors from companies such asIntel, Motorola, Hitachi and NEC, for example. There is a working memorysuch as a RAM 364, and a wireless interface 366 which communicates witha wireless device 368. The communication between the interface 366 anddevice 368 may use any wireless medium such as radio waves, or lightwaves, for example. The radio waves may be implemented using a spreadspectrum technique such as Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”)communication or using a frequency hopping technique such as thatdisclosed in the Bluetooth specification.

There is a ROM 370, and a flash memory 371, although any other type ofnonvolatile memory may be utilized in addition to or in place of theflash memory 371 such as an EPROM, or an EEPROM, for example. An inputcontroller 372 has connected thereto a keyboard 374 and a mouse 376.There is a serial interface 378 connected to a serial device 380.Additionally, a parallel interface 382 is connected to a parallel device384, a universal serial bus interface 386 is connected to a universalserial bus device 388, and also there is an IEEE 1394 device, commonlyreferred to as a fire wire device, connected to an IEEE 1394 interface398. The various elements of the computer 360 are connected by a systembus 390. A disk controller 396 is connected to a floppy disk drive 394and a hard disk drive 392. A communication controller 406 allows thecomputer 360 to communicate with other computers, or send e-mailmessages, for example over a telephone line 402, or a network 404. AnI/O (Input/Output) controller 408 is connected to a printer 410 and ahard disk 412, for example using a SCSI (Small Computer SystemInterface) bus. There is also a display controller 416 connected to aCRT (Cathode Ray Tube) 414, although any other type of display may beused including a liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode display,a plasma display, etc.

FIG. 9 illustrates various objects such as software objects and modulescontained within the computer 360. The computer 360 is connected to amail server 430 through which mail is sent and received. The mail server430 may be located at the Internet service provider 264 of FIG. 5, maybe located on a network, may be owned by the company owning the computer360, or may even be located inside of the computer 360, for example. Ane-mail processor 432 is utilized to control the transmitting andreceiving of electronic mail messages. The e-mail processor may beimplemented in any desired or known manner and may be based oncommercially available electronic mail programs such as Microsoft'sOutlook Express, or GroupWise by Novell, although any other e-mailprogram may be used, if desired. As a specific implementation, thee-mail system may retrieve e-mail from the server using POP3 (PostOffice Protocol) and to access the e-mail server in order to sende-mails using SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), although any otherprotocol may be used, if desired. If the computer 360 utilizes anoperating system such as an operating system from Unix, then thecomputer will usually have an IP address and a mail system built-in.Therefore, there may be no need to utilize the mail server 430 with sucha system. A registry 434 contains various information of the system andmay be implemented in the same or similar manner as the registry ofWindows 95, Windows 98, and/or Windows NT, for example. Incoming mailinformation 436 may be utilized to store incoming mail. Additionally, ifdesired the incoming mail information 436 may be implemented to storethe POP3 location, and store file information about the incominge-mails. Outgoing mail information 438 contains information regardingSMTP and file information for outgoing mail. A device driver 440, suchas a printer driver, scanner driver, or other driver, for example may beused to communicate with the device 442 which may be any type of devicefrom which information is desired or to which information or controlsignals are to be sent. The device driver 440 is implemented totranslate commands or signals from the e-mail processor 432 to signalswhich are transmitted to the device 442 and vice versa. Alternatively,the e-mail processor 432 may perform more of the processing functionsand the device driver 440 may have more simple programming and fewresponsibilities. Further, any other implementation of the software maybe utilized as long as the function of proper communication and controlof the device 442 using e-mail messages is performed.

A more detailed exemplary implementation of the device driver 440 ofFIG. 9 is illustrated in FIG. 10. The device driver 440 includes adevice function support module 454 which may be implemented to performthe conventional and/or desired functions of a device driver. The devicedriver 440 also includes a remote control and diagnostic module 452. Ifdesired, the remote control and diagnostic module 452 may be implementedto perform some or all of the control and/or diagnostic functions whichare described in the related patent and patent applications and areincorporated by reference above. By implementing the control anddiagnostic module 452 in the device driver 440, the cost of the device442 may be reduced and the resources and capabilities of the device 442may be eliminated or reduced such as by reducing the amount of memory inthe device 442 such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) or flashmemory, for example. This reduced cost is possible as the hardwareresources of the computer 360 may be utilized in place of constructingadditional hardware to go into the device 442, if desired. Variousinformation including log information and error information may bestored in a data base which includes device data 456 using any desiredhardware and data or data base management software. Further, softwarewithin the device 442 may be reduced by increasing the functionsperformed by the device driver 440 including functions performed by theremote control and diagnostic module 452 and the device function supportmodule 454. These two software modules may be implemented in onesoftware module, if desired. Additionally, the software which keepstrack of the usage of the device may be removed from the device itselfand included in the device driver 440.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary network with resource administrationstations and a service center. The Internet 10 provides connectivity toa plurality of Intranets 504, 522, and 532, each having firewalls 506,526, and 536, respectively, for a System 500. As illustrated, theIntranet 504 is an exemplary Ricoh Intranet including the Ricoh Firewall506, a Service Center 502 having access to data 501 in a databaseconnected to a Service Machine at the Service Center 502. Asillustrated, the exemplary Intranet 522 is resident in Europe 528. TheIntranet 522 includes a Resource Administrator 520 and Copier A 524. Theexemplary Intranet 532 resides in the USA 538 and includes a ResourceAdministrator 530 and a Printer B 534. Also, as illustrated in FIG. 11,an Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) 540 is connected to a computer 542which is connected to a Printer C 544.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary Intranet 600, having a Firewall 606,three end users 620, 622, and 624, a Resource Administrator 610, and twodevices, Printer A 602 and Printer B 604. The Resource Administrationstation of the Resource Administrator 610 may be the station of systemadministration. The Resource Administration station monitors networkresource usage such as use of the network printers Printer A 602 andPrinter B 604 of FIG. 12. The resource usage within the Intranet 600,such as, for example, use of Printer A 602 and Printer B 604 in FIG. 12is monitored by the Service Center 502 of FIG. 11 and summaryinformation is transferred to the Resource Administration station atpredetermined times, or upon the occurrence of predetermined events.Summary information transmission may be predetermined by, for example, acontract between a company controlling the service center and acustomer, or end user. The summary information transmission may be, forexample, monthly, weekly, or on specified dates such as the first of themonth or the last day of the month, or on Monday or on Friday. Thereport sent to the user may be customized by providing predeterminedrequested information and/or a predetermined format, such as, forexample, Excel format or HTML format for ease of viewing.

Since Printer A 602 and Printer B 604 are connected to a network, theyhave Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses. The printers 602 and 604 cansend status messages to either the Resource Administration station 610or to the Service Center 502 of FIG. 11 through the Firewall 606 of FIG.12. As previously shown, a message can be sent directly to the ResourceAdministration station 610 if urgent service is needed. Urgent servicemay include, for example, a copy machine needing toner, a printerrunning out of paper, a paper jam, a lack of electrical power, or anyother device problem which requires immediate attention, either manuallyor electronically. Non-urgent messages may include, for example, usagereports such as the number of pages or jobs printed by a printer, thenumber of calls received by a facsimile machine, data concerningfacsimile transmissions made by a particular end user or users of anintranet, the number of copies made by a particular end user, the amountof time an end user has spent utilizing a particular network device, andfacsimile information for facsimile transmissions made by a particularend user or an office.

Exemplary details of transmission of urgent and non-urgent transmissionare disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,110, and as discussedbelow. Means other than electronic mail may be used for the purpose ofcalling attention for urgent service. For routine information, however,the Service Center 502 may manage all resources on the Intranet 600 andmay send predetermined selected information to the ResourceAdministration station 610 using electronic mail. Although theinformation may be available, for example, on the World Wide Web, busyend users tend to forget to check web sites. Thus, electronic mail iswell suited for obtaining the attention of a proper recipient of themessage.

It is to be noted that messages transmitted to the Service Center 502are generated by the network devices. The Service Center 502 may be thecentral servicing center of a large corporation, for example, while aresource administrator may be an entity responsible for managing localresources for an intranet for an office site. It is also to be notedthat network devices may include household appliances and meters. Insuch cases, the Resource Administrator may, for example, be a homecomputer user.

FIG. 13 illustrates a data flow diagram which processes incomingmessages to and outgoing messages from a machine such as the digitalcopier/printer. A direct connection process 670 is used to processincoming and outgoing communications in a connection-mode ofcommunication such as through a local area network, telephone line, orISDN line. Incoming messages pass through buffer 674 to a parsingprocess 692 which performs parsing of incoming information in a knownand conventional manner. The incoming information causes various actionssuch as the actions illustrated in 694, 696, 698 to occur. Some actionsrequire that a message be returned and the returned message isillustrated by the arrows leading to buffer 700. An output messageprocess is performed which prepares an outgoing message to either thedirect connection or e-mail process. The direct connection processpasses through buffer 672 before passing through the direct connectionprocess 670.

For an e-mail-mode of communication, there is an e-mail input processor676 and an e-mail output processor 678. Incoming e-mail-modecommunications pass through buffer 680 and a decryption process isperformed in step 684. The decrypted information is stored in buffer 686and passed to a conventional parsing process 692. As explained above,one or more of the actions 694, 696 and 698 are performed and outgoingmessages pass through the buffer 700 to the output message process 702.Then, the e-mail-mode outgoing messages pass through a buffer 690, afterwhich they are encrypted by the encryption process 688. The encryptedmessages then pass through buffer 682 and are transmitted via the e-mailoutput process 678 over a network such as the Internet to their finaldestination.

Any type of e-mail-mode of communication may be used by the presentinvention. An inexpensive and readily available medium through whiche-mail messages may pass is the Internet processing electronic mailmessages. The e-mail input and output processes may be according to anyknown Internet e-mail protocol such as used by the BSD Unix mail systemwhich is incorporated into the SunOS 4.1.X. Also, other informationdescribing Internet e-mail operations are readily available throughvarious sources on the Internet itself. It is well known that Internete-mail requires an identifier or address of the machine which is toreceive the e-mail. Further, Internet e-mail protocols typicallyconstruct an electronic mail message to include an envelope, a headerand a body. The envelope typically includes the identifier or address ofthe machine or person which is to receive the e-mail and the identifieror address of the originator of the message or where replies to themessage are to be sent. The header typically includes a description ofthe encoding type or version of the e-mail message. The identifier oraddress of Internet e-mail addresses typically include a name whichidentifies the recipient or user of an e-mail server, followed by the“@” symbol, followed by the domain name or host name of the mail server.These various features of e-mail are utilized by the BSD Unix mailsystem of the SunOS 4.1.X. While the Internet provides an inexpensivemanner of an e-mail-mode of communication, the Internet electronic mailsystem may be slow or unreliable and therefore, in certaincircumstances, instead of using an e-mail process, a direct connectionprocess as described above, is performed.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart which may be used to implement the dataflow diagram illustrated in FIG. 13. After starting, step 740 determinesif decryption is needed and if it is, a decryption routine is performedin step 742. Step 744 then calls a parser which parses in a conventionalmanner and step 746 determines if any action needs to be taken. If itdoes, for example, when information is to be transmitted back to theremote monitoring, diagnosis, or control device, step 748 calls therequired routine. Step 750 determines if more processing is needed andflow returns back to step 740 for further processing. Otherwise, flowreturns to the calling process.

FIG. 15 illustrates a process performed within the machine whichdetermines whether a connection-mode or an e-mail-mode of communicationis needed. After starting, step 770 determines if an event requirescommunication and if it does not, flow returns to the calling process.If communication is needed, step 772 determines whether the eventrequires an e-mail-mode or a connection-mode of transmission. Any typeof high priority event for which immediate attention is needed or whichthe remote monitoring device would be interested in on an expeditedbasis is sent in a connection-mode of communication. This may be usedwhen a hazardous connection exists within the machine or when somethingin the machine needs immediate attention. For example, if a thermistorin the fuser unit senses a high and unsafe temperature, a directconnection mode may be used. However, the transmission of a weekly ormonthly report indicating the usage and a normal condition state in themachine can use the slower e-mail-mode of communication. Additionally,when the e-mail-mode of communication is not properly functioning, theconnection-mode of communication is used. For example, if an Internete-mail message is not properly received by the monitoring device, adirect connection-mode of communication is used. The e-mail message maycontain a request for acknowledgment of receipt and if an acknowledgmentis not received within a predetermined time (e.g. 3-24 hours) then aconnection-mode communication is used to re-transmit the message. Also,if a connection-mode of communication is not properly functioning, thenthe e-mail-mode of communication may be used.

If step 772 determines that an event does not require an e-mail-mode ofcommunication, step 776 determines if the direct communication channelis ready. For example, it determines if network, the telephone or ISDNline is available. If it is, a direct communication process is performedin step 778 to transmit the appropriate information. If the directchannel is not ready, step 780 notifies the user through the operationpanel that there is a problem with the device. If step 772 determinesthat the event requires an e-mail-mode of transmission, step 774 callsan e-mail communication process. The process of FIG. 15 then returns tothe calling process.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the processing performed when anon-urgent message is sent from a device. After starting, step 800stores the information which needs to be transmitted in dynamic statestorage. Step 802 determines whether it is time to send the data. Whenstep 802 determines that it is not time to send the data, control passesto step 800, which was discussed previously. When step 802 determinesthat it is time to send data, step 804 packages the informationaccording to the set format, and step 806 sends out the e-mail with thepackaged information to its predetermined destination. The process ofFIG. 16 then returns to the calling process.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the processing performed when anurgent message is sent from the device. After starting, step 820 issuesan emergency event notification 820. Examples of such emergency eventsmay include, for example, a paper jam, an electrical outage, anoverheating mechanism on a device, a lack of paper, or a lack of toner.Step 822 packages the information for transmission. Step 824 then sendsthe message to the Resource Manager and Service Center, for example, theResource Administrator 520 or 530 or the Service Center 502 of FIG. 11.The process of FIG. 17 then returns to the calling process.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating the processing performed when amessage is sent from the service center, for example, from the ServiceCenter 502 of FIG. 11. After starting, step 860 determines whether theservice center needs to send information. If step 860 determines thatthe service center does not need to send information, then the processof FIG. 18 returns to the calling process. If step 860 determines thatthe service center needs to send information, step 862 determineswhether the information is to be sent to the Resource Manager, forexample one of the resource administrators 520 or 530 of FIG. 11. Whenstep 862 determines that the information is for the resource manager,step 864 packages the information, step 866 sends the packagedinformation to the resource manager, and the process of FIG. 18 returnsto the calling process.

When step 862 determines that the information is not for the resourcemanager, step 868 determines whether the information is to be sent tothe device. When step 868 determines that the information is for thedevice, step 870 packages the information for the device, step 872 sendsthe packaged information to the device, and the process of FIG. 18returns to the calling process. When step 868 determines that theinformation is not for the device, step 874 identifies the destinationfor the information to be sent. Step 876 then packages the informationfor the destination which is identified. Step 878 sends the informationto the destination, and the process of FIG. 18 returns to the callingprocess.

FIG. 19A illustrates an exemplary e-mail message utilized by theinvention. In FIG. 19A, lines 1-7 are part of the e-mail header. Eachheader field contains a name, followed by a colon, followed by the fieldvalue. RFC (Request For Comments) 822 specifies the format andinterpretation of the header fields, which is incorporated by reference.The fields of the header illustrated in FIG. 19A are fairly standard andself-explanatory. Line 1 indicates from where the e-mail originated,line 2 indicates the date the e-mail was sent, line 3 indicates a nameassociated with the e-mail address (Service Center), line 4 indicates towhom the e-mail is addressed and line 5 indicates the subject of thee-mail message. Line 6 indicates the MIME version utilized by attachmentencodings. MIME is utilized to send binary files in electronic mailmessages which permit only ASCII characters. MIME allows the binaryencoding to be converted to these ASCII characters which aresubsequently converted back to the original binary files at theappropriate time. Such a use of MIME encoding is well known. Line 7designates one or more content fields such as the type of text, thelength of the message and any other desired information.

Additionally, e-mail messages also contain what is referred to as anenvelope which is used by the message transfer agents for delivery. Theenvelope may be specified by SMTP commands such as “mail from” and “RCPT2”. Further information about the envelope is specified in RFC 821,which is incorporated herein by reference. A third part of an e-mailmessage is the message body which is the content of the message. RFC 822specifies the body as lines of ASCII text. In FIG. 19A, the body is setforth in lines 9-18.

There may be files attached to electronic mail messages, for example asillustrated in FIG. 19B. The attached file 900 in FIG. 19B is anexecutable file which allows a user to execute the programming codecontained within the file. The attachment of files including executablefiles to electronic mail messages is a known feature of e-mail messages.

FIG. 20 illustrates a typical screen display of a computer executing anelectronic mail program and displaying the e-mail message of FIG. 19A.When the FIG. 19A is displayed, the various encoding information is notshown to the user but is displayed in an appropriate format. At thebottom of the display 910 is a section relating to attachments. Themessage displayed in FIG. 20 shows an executable file “SUMMARY.EXE” asan attached file. As explained in the body or message of the e-mail, byexecuting the attached file, the attached file will cause certaintesting, gathering of information, controlling, or logging ofinformation of the attached printer. Typically, the attached file isexecuted by “clicking” or “double-clicking” on the attachment.Alternatively, the attachment may be saved as a separate file and thenexecuted using the appropriate commands available within the operatingsystem. Further, any other desired method may be used to execute thefile.

FIG. 21 illustrates a process of receiving an e-mail message which isultimately used to transmit information such as data, control commands,or diagnostic commands to an attached device according to an embodimentshown in FIGS. 19A, 19B and 20. This method may be performed with anydesired type of computerized or other type of hardware and/or softwareand may be performed using the hardware and software organization, asdescribed above. In the embodiment of FIG. 21, the e-mail message isreceived in any conventional or desired manner and it is a manual actionby the user which causes the e-mail message to perform the desiredoperation. In FIG. 21, after starting, in step 930, the computerreceives an incoming e-mail message. In step 932, the user opens thee-mail message in accordance with the requirements of the e-mail programwhich is executing on the user's computer and in step 934, the messagebody of the e-mail messages displays instructions and requests the userto execute the attached file. Step 934 corresponds to the display ofFIG. 20. FIG. 20 shows that the message displays to the user the originof the e-mail message, the purpose of the e-mail message, and how theuser should execute the attached file in order to perform the desiredoperations. Alternatively, any desired message may be displayed to theuser. The operations which are performed are determined by the attachedfile SUMMARY.EXE.

Step 936 determines if the user “clicked” the attached file which causesthe attached file to be executed. Alternative manners of executing theattached file may be performed such as double clicking the attachedfile, saving the attached file and using a command of the operatingsystem to cause the file to execute, or the attached file may beexecuted in any other way. After the user causes the execution of theattached file to begin, flow proceeds to step 938 which executes theattached file. In the preferred form of the invention, the attached filecauses commands to be transmitted to the device driver. In step 940, thedevice driver receives the commands from the executing attachment andsends the appropriate commands and information to the attached device.In step 942, the operation specified by the attached file is performedby the device. Such an operation may be any type of operation includingany of the operation, control functions, or data requests ormanipulations described in any of the related patents and patentapplications specified above. Exemplary operations performed by thedevice including remote control and diagnostic operations, thetransmitting of information pertaining to the operation or failureswhich have occurred within the device, and also operating parametersutilized by or stored in the device.

While the process of FIG. 21 has been explained with respect to the useof a device driver, the device driver is a convenient label for theroutine which allows control of the attached device, and any other typeof software which controls the attached device may be utilized in placeof the device driver. For example, the e-mail program itself may be ableto send commands and/or data directly to the attached device. Theattached device may be any of the devices which have been explainedabove.

One manner of causing the execution of the program code is to use agraphical pointing device such as a mouse connected to the computer,having the user place a pointer on the object representing the file(e.g., the attached file summary.exe), and subsequently having the userpress a button while the user points to the file.

FIG. 22 illustrates an alternative embodiment of receiving e-mailmessages in which the computer or program executing thereinautomatically detects that the incoming e-mail message is used forcommunication with the attached device. Thus, in this embodiment, theremay be no need for the user to execute an attached file. In FIG. 22,after starting, step 960 receives an incoming e-mail message. In step962, a program, such as an electronic mail processing program, detectsthat there is an incoming e-mail message. The detection of incominge-mail may be performed in any desired manner. Currently, commerciallyavailable e-mail programs have the capability to automatically detectincoming e-mail messages and such conventional automatic detectingcapabilities may be utilized. Further, in Unix, a specific directorylabeled “/var/mail” which contains a file with a user name receivesfiles corresponding to incoming e-mail messages and when this filechanges in size, appears, or more files appear, the system can detectthat there is an incoming e-mail message. In step 964, the executingprogram parses the e-mail to determine if the e-mail is for the attacheddevice. Such parsing is performed by determining if a predetermined codeexists at a predetermined place in the e-mail message. Exemplarypositions of such a code may be in the subject line of the e-mailmessage, may be a special code which appears within the message body,may be a code which appears in the message header, including a userdefined field within the header, or may even be in the message envelope.It may also be possible for the incoming e-mail message to have anaddress which is routed to the computer which is attached to the deviceand such messages are not displayed to the user but are directly usedfor processing. For example, the device may have its own account. Then,the “var/mail” directory discussed above includes a file with theaccount name of the device. Step 966 performs an analysis of the parsede-mail to determine if the e-mail is for the user or for the attacheddevice. When the e-mail is determined to be for the attached device,flow proceeds to step 968 which performs an operation in response to thee-mail for the device. This performed operation may be any of thepreviously described operations including operations described in therelated patents and patent applications including the performing of amechanical action, such as movement of a scanning head or printer heador causing any other type of mechanical actions typically performed bythe device in question, and also operations including the transmittingof parameters.

When step 966 determines that the attached e-mail is for a user (e.g.,the e-mail is unassociated with the attached device and is not used tocontrol or monitor the attached device), flow proceeds from step 966 tostep 970 which allows the user to view, reply to, forward, or performany other desired function on this e-mail. From steps 970 and 968,control flows to step 972 which determines if there are additionale-mail messages. If there are more messages, flow proceeds back to step964. If there are no more messages, the process of FIG. 22 ends.

Another alternative to using e-mail is to send, to a user of thecomputer, an e-mail message with a web address where an executable filemay be downloaded. Unlike attaching executable code, this method will atleast allow the user to verify the web site before downloading andexecuting code. This method requires more work by the user, but allowsthe user to check the source of the executable code.

In addition to receiving electronic mail messages which are used formonitoring and/or controlling an attached device, the invention alsoincludes the transmission of e-mail messages which contain informationof the device attached to the computer. The present invention preparesdata for transmission in e-mail messages, such as the information whichis illustrated in FIGS. 25-28 which are explained below.

FIG. 23 illustrates a first embodiment of transmitting an e-mailmessage. After starting, the message is prepared to be transmitted instep 1000. In order to prepare the message to be sent, data which ispart of the message is obtained or generated. This data may be obtainedby querying the device attached to the computer, or alternatively, isalready stored in the computer. The data may also be obtained asdisclosed in the related applications, if desired. The e-mail message isprepared to have a format of conventional e-mail systems including theenvelope, header, and body of the e-mail message, as explained above,although any desired format may be used.

Step 1002 then sends the message to an outmail object. An outmail objectis preferably a software object or routine executing within the computerwhich performs the transmission out of the computer. The manner in whichthe transmission is performed in the Microsoft Windows environment isthrough the use of the Messaging Application Programming Interface(“MAPI”). The MAPI allows interaction with the messaging system and doesnot require a programmer to write all code which is utilized to transmitmessages. By setting the MAPI in Windows to a specific program, such asthe Microsoft Outlook Express e-mail program, when a message istransmitted to the outmail object (the MAPI client), the messagetransmission may become automated. Details regarding the implementationand use of MAPI are set forth in the book “Inside MAPI” by Irving De laCruz and Les Thalaer, published by the Microsoft Press, 1996, which isincorporated herein by reference. Any feature regarding the use of MAPIdisclosed in this book may be utilized to implement the presentinvention using the MAPI client. In step 1004, the e-mail message istransmitted out of the client, preferably using the outmail object.

The outmail object has been described as being the Windows MAPI.However, any other outmail object may be used to assist in thetransmission of e-mail messages. Alternatively, a software object doesnot have to be used but any desired code which assists in thetransmission of the outmail object may be utilized.

An alternative manner of transmitting e-mail messages according to thepresent invention is illustrated in FIG. 24. The method of FIG. 24 ispreferably performed in a Unix environment, although any other softwareor operating system environment may be utilized as long as the desiredsteps are performed. In FIG. 24, after starting, step 1040 prepares themessage to be sent. This step is utilized to obtain the informationwhich is to be transmitted and may be performed in a similar manner aswhen step 1000 of FIG. 23 is performed, if desired. In step 1042 of FIG.24, the mail output files are prepared and include the message which wasprepared in step 1040. In step 1044, the output files which may be oneor more files, the number of files being the number appropriate to theoperating system, are stored in an outgoing mail directory which in Unixis referred as the mail spool directory. This directory in Unix may belocated at /var/spool/mqueue, although any other appropriate directorymay be used. Once the appropriate file(s) is (are) stored in the desiredlocation, step 1046 is performed which transmits an electronic mailmessage corresponding to the file(s) which has been stored. The processof FIG. 24 then ends.

FIG. 25 illustrates a data structure 1080 containing device information.This is information which is preferably transmitted from the device tothe computer and/or from the computer out to a network using an e-mailformat. FIG. 25 is an exemplary format and any desired format orinformation of the attached device which is of interest may betransmitted. The data structure 1080 illustrated in FIG. 25 includes adevice identification 1082, a model of the device 1084, a device type1086 which indicates information such as whether the device is ascanner, digital copier, printer, fax machine, multifunction device, orany other information regarding the type of the device. Field 1088illustrates the capabilities of the device such as the optionalequipment and capabilities of the device such as the type of outputtrays (e.g., a sorter), or whether the device has an automatic documentfeeder, for example, as explained in the related applications andpatents. Further, information relating to the operation of the devicemay be transmitted. The information illustrated in FIG. 25 relates to aprinter, copier, or multifunction device, and different information maybe utilized for different types of devices. Exemplary information whichmay be included in the device information data structure 1080 include atotal number of page or paper jams 1090, a total number of jobs whichwere performed 1092, a total number of pages printed 1094, a totalnumber of color pages printed 1096 which is applicable only to colorprinters or devices, an average number of pages per job 1098, a numberof jobs since the last report 1100, a number of pages since the lastreport 1102, a number of color pages since the last report 1104, a field1108 which stores information of the last 20 jobs including the timestamps related to when these jobs occurred, and a field 1110 whichincludes information of the last 20 abnormal jobs (e.g., jobs which didnot finish in accordance with normal or standard procedures) includingthe time stamps of when these jobs or abnormalities occurred, ifdesired.

The present invention may be utilized to create informational reportsregarding status or other information of the device which is beingmonitored. The information of the devices may be transmitted over theInternet to another company or to a computer of the same company, oralternatively may be transmitted as an e-mail which remains within theprivate network such as the local area network or a wide area network ofa company. A machine which receives e-mail messages prepared andtransmitted in accordance with the teachings of this invention may betransmitted to a device such as the service machine 254 illustrated inFIG. 5 or the Service Machine of the Service Center 502 illustrated inFIG. 11. The service machine may then notify an appropriate entity suchas a third party service center, a service center of the devicemanufacturer such as the copier or printer manufacturer's service centeror other authorized service center, or any other entity and indicatethat a specific problem exists. Such notification may be performedthrough electronic mail, through a direct computer connection, through atelephone call to a person using a facsimile transmission, through theindication of a voice message, or in any other desired manner.

FIG. 26 illustrates a log 1120 of collected data from various machineswhich indicates a problem with the machine. The log contains theidentification of the machine which is having the problem, the locationof the machine, the particular problem with the machine, and the entitywhich has been notified. The information which is received andtransmitted in accordance with the log of FIG. 26 may operate inaccordance with the teachings of any of the cross-referencedapplications. The log may be generated at and/or stored in any of thecomputers of FIG. 5, 10 or 11, for example.

FIG. 27 illustrates an example of data 1130 which has been collectedthrough an inquiry. The inquiry in the example of FIG. 27 may beutilized to indicate the total number of installed machines of aparticular model (e.g., the FT 6650), the number of these devices havinga sorter, the average of number of copies per job per machine, and theaverage use of the sorter. Any other desired information may also beincluded in the status report. The status report may be generated atand/or stored in any of the computers of FIG. 5, for example.

FIG. 28 illustrates a customer intranet 1140 with a Facility Manager PC1144 generating a monthly report 1146. The customer intranet 1140 isconnected, through a firewall 1148, to the Internet 10, and to adatabase 1142. This report could have been generated for a computernetwork having four printers and three copiers which are located on thecustomer intranet 1140. The report was preferably generated according tothe teachings of this invention using e-mail messages, although thereport could have been generated using the techniques described in thecross-referenced applications, if desired. This type of report allowsin-company monitoring of machines which are connected to a network orintranet and the computer maintaining information and statistics aboutthe machines attached to the network may be part of the network, whetherit be a local area network, wide area network, or across the Internet,for example. Alternatively, the report could be generated for devices ona plurality of intranets by the Facility Manager PC 1144 which storesappropriate information in the database 1142.

The present invention may be utilized to create informational reportsregarding status or other information of the device which is beingmonitored. The information of the devices may be transmitted over theInternet to another company or to a computer of the same company, oralternatively may be transmitted as an e-mail which remains within theprivate network such as the local area network or a wide area network ofa company. A machine which receives e-mail messages prepared andtransmitted in accordance with the teachings of this invention may betransmitted to a device such as the service machine 254 illustrated inFIG. 5 or the Service Machine of the Service Center 502 illustrated inFIG. 11. The service machine may then notify an appropriate entity suchas a third party service center, a service center of the devicemanufacturer such as the copier or printer manufacturer's service centeror other authorized service center, or any other entity and indicatethat a specific problem exists. Such notification may be performedthrough electronic mail, through a direct computer connection, through atelephone call to a person using a facsimile transmission, through theindication of a voice message, or in any other desired manner.

In its preferred implementation, the present invention utilizescomputers having separate housings than the device to which they areattached. This would allow the invention to be inexpensively implementedfor installations which already have an existing computer for performingthe desired processing as the new hardware costs may be reduced. Such anarrangement may also permit implementation of the invention withouthardware changes to the device. However, if desired, the presentinvention may be implemented by including the appropriate processing anddata storage capabilities in the device which is being monitored and/orcontrolled in addition to or as an alternative to a separate computerconnected to the device. Further, this invention may be particularlyapplicable to existing installations such as a print server. A printserver is connected to a computer network and receives requests toperform printing operations and distributes these printing operations toappropriate printing devices connected to the print server.

This application relates to and builds on various concepts which havebeen disclosed in the cross-referenced patents and patent applicationswhich have been incorporated into this application by reference. Thispatent application is intended to include not only the inventionsdisclosed in the related applications, but also the combinations ofvarious features and functions of the individual embodiments which havebeen disclosed in this and each of the related applications. Thus, afeature disclosed in one of the related applications or patents may bereadily applied to a concept disclosed in this invention, and also, theconcepts disclosed in one or more of the other applications may beapplied to concepts or features disclosed in other(s) of theapplications. Further, an e-mail message may be used for only one ofsending and receiving, with communication in the other direction beingperformed using a different mode of communication, such as one of theother communication modes disclosed herein, or a communication modedisclosed in the related patents and patent applications.

This invention may be conveniently implemented using a conventionalgeneral purpose digital computer or microprocessor programmed accordingto the teachings of the present specification, as will be apparent tothose skilled in the computer art. Appropriate software coding canreadily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of thepresent disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the softwareart. The invention may also be implemented by the preparation ofapplication specific integrated circuits or by interconnecting anappropriate network of conventional component circuits, as will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art.

The present invention includes a computer program product which is astorage medium including instructions which can be used to program acomputer to perform a process of the invention. The storage medium caninclude, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks,optical discs, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs,EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable forstoring electronic instructions.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the presentinvention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is thereforeto be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, theinvention may be practiced otherwise then as specifically describedherein.

1. A method of monitoring a device, comprising: accessing the device bya software component associated with a device driver of the device, thedevice driver residing on a first computer connected to the devicethrough one of a serial interface, a parallel interface, a UniversalSerial Bus interface, and a IEEE 1394 interface; obtaining, through thedevice driver, device status information from the device, includinginformation obtained from sensors of the device; and transmitting thedevice status information from the first computer to a second computer,coupled to the first computer, over a network using an Internetapplication-layer protocol.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thetransmitting step comprises: transmitting the device status informationto the second computer at a predetermined time or upon the occurrence ofa predetermined event.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondcomputer and the device are arranged in a same local area network. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the device is one of a printer, copier, amultifunction printer, and a facsimile machine.
 5. A monitoring computerto monitor a device, comprising: a processor configured to execute adevice driver, the device driver including a control and diagnostic unitconfigured to obtain device status information from the device,including information obtained from sensors of the device and totransmit the device status information from the monitoring computer to asecond computer, coupled to the monitoring computer, over a networkusing an Internet application-layer protocol, wherein the monitoringcomputer is connected to the device through one of a serial interface, aparallel interface, a Universal Serial Bus interface, and a IEEE 1394interface.
 6. The monitoring computer of claim 5, wherein the controland diagnostic unit is configured to transmit the device statusinformation to the second computer at a predetermined time or upon theoccurrence of a predetermined event.